Join the Phoenixville Chamber and Orion Communities for an Open House and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony! The Open House will be from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm, and is a perfect time to get to know Orion and the various services it provides, while the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony will be 4:00 pm.

Light refreshments will be served at this event, but don’t fill up on those too much – Orion Communities is partnering with Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant in Phoenixville that day for a Give 20 promotion!

Dine at Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant in Phoenixville Any Time of Day on Wednesday, June 8 and 20% of Your Food Bill Will Go To Support Orion Communities!Click to print the coupon below, stop by our office at 237 Bridge St or give us a call
at 610-415-1140 and we’d be happy to mail it to you. Thank you!

When you come to the heart of Phoenixville for some of the exciting Spring & Summer events, stop by our office!

Starting with the First Friday of the 2016, stop by our new address at 237 Bridge Street and meet Orion’s Board Members, Staff & Volunteers. Come and learn more about what Orion does and who Orion serves and how you might be able to help become a part of “neighbors helping neighbors”!

Join us at the Kimberton Inn for hors d’oeuvres, a carving station and more while local singer Liz Faranda and her fiancé and professional pianist Derek Maninfior entertain with show tunes to classical music to benefit Orion in supporting our most vulnerable neighbors.

So much has happened at Orion in the past year – we have more clients, staff, volunteers, Board members and friends. So when our lease was up, we knew we had to look for a larger space to accommodate all of our neighbors because we were falling over each other.

Fortunately, we found the just the right space in the same block of Bridge Street, just 5 doors up!

There’s so much to see and tell!Please join us for our OPEN HOUSE ON APRIL 13 between 4pm – 7pm
or stop by during our office hours Mon – Fri 9am-2pm or Tue & Thurs 6pm-8pm, we’d love to give you the tour.

Get to know the new Orion!
237 Bridge Street
Phoenixvile, PA 19460
610-415-1140

PHOENIXVILLE—Thank you to everyone for all of the warm clothing and food donations at Warmth for All! Your generosity is appreciated by so many of your neighbors!

As you know, winter is the hardest time for people in poverty and families who are one crisis away from poverty. Inspired by Giving Tuesday and avoiding Black Friday, a friend of Orion launched a fundraiser for our Emergency Fund to support our neighbors in need through the winter. All of the donations to this fund go directly to the people in need with guidance and support from our case managers.

Details from the Emergency Fund campaign below:
Orion Communities provides support for individuals and families who are suffering from hunger, homeslessness, job insecurity and have sadly fallen through the cracks of our support programs.

We are 100% donor funded (yes, people like you send us anything from $5 to a few hundred) to provide a safe haven for people who have nowhere else to turn, often referred to as the poorest of the poor. We are neighbors helping neighbors. And since we don’t accept government funding and have volunteer case managers, your donations go right to the people who need it the most.
Last weekend, members of our community gathered to donate winter clothes, blankets and food to share with those in need, now we are asking you for a contribution, not matter how small, to our emergency fund.

What is the Emergency Fund?
Someone has lost their job and can’t pay the heating bill for their home, we help them out to make sure their family doesn’t freeze.
Someone just got a new job, but to keep it they have to get there and have no car, we give them enough bus tokens to make it to the next paycheck.
Unexpected medical bills have left too little money to feed their children.

There are so many more scenarios that seem to be little things that most of us don’t think of, but can leave someone with limited income stranded and hopeless wondering how to take care of life’s basic essentials.

Thank you in advance for your generosity, and if you need more information or know someone who needs assistance, please call us: 610-415-1140

The purpose of Chester County National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week is to bring greater awareness of the problems …of hunger and homelessness nationally and locally to the residents of Chester County

Vision of Chester County National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week is for Stakeholders in partnership throughout Chester County to work together to increase the community’s awareness of hunger and homelessness through plan activities, programs and news media events. Each event is to help the residents of Chester County realize the difficulties that the hungry and homeless persons face daily and ways in which they can help.

The Board of Directors of Orion Communities is pleased to announce, effective October 1, 2015, Kris Keller was appointed as the first paid Executive Director since Orion’s transition to an all-volunteer staff in March 2014. Kris had been serving as the volunteer Executive Director since December 2014 and her leadership in that position was a major factor in bringing Orion from the brink of closing its doors to a position where it has become a viable and critical provider of services to those in most need in Phoenixville and the surrounding areas.

Prior to her tenure as its volunteer Executive Director, Kris recently served in an advisory capacity to Orion helping to guide it through a difficult financial and management reorganization which resulted in a crucial shift from an organization that faced closure to one that began to provide limited but essential services to its neighbors in need. As volunteer Executive Director she was instrumental in a major turnaround for Orion by winning the trust of community leaders, reconnecting to its former donor base, instituting new and imaginative public relations efforts and guiding the Board in instituting effective and efficient management and fiscal policies and procedures. As a result, Orion was able to secure enough additional funding to hire a part time office manager and intern and increase the number of incoming client contacts served in December 2014 from less than 40 to over 340 in September 2015.

The Executive Director is a part time position and Kris continues to work as a home inspector in the business she and her husband started 16 years ago. Kris has an engineering degree and MBA in marketing and program management. She has started and managed several for profit and non-profit organizations and reports enjoying being a part of Phoenixville’s vibrant and collaborative community.

Ken George, President of Orion, stated, “Kris’s enthusiasm, energy, business acumen and dedication to Orion’s mission has been both an inspiration to and catalyst for all the members of the Board.”

Please stop by or set up an appointment to meet Kris and see Orion in action. For more information, check out Orion’s video or call 610.415.1140.